Behind Closed Doors
by yoho-hey
Summary: A series of events from the game but in Sam's POV. In other words, what happened to Sam while we were focusing on Lara. This is her story on Yamatai.
1. The Endurance

Hey guys! So I noticed that most of the Tomb Raider fanfictions that I have read atleast, take place before or after Yamatai, and not during. And I always wondered what exactly was happening to Sam that we didn't see, so I decided to throw this together. Also cause Sam is badass and I love her. Please note that this story will be moving from event to event. I am just picking out significant parts in the game and there may be gaps in between chapters. But if you've played throughout the entire game then there shouldn't be any confusion. Enjoy!

* * *

"We have to turn this thing around!" Alex Weiss yelled to Roth over the sound of the storm, thunder rumbling and lightning flashing as they attempted to steer the Endurance.

Roth gripped onto the steering wheel, pushing with all his strength. "We can try but the tide's too strong!"

"You're the Captain! Can't you get us out of this?"

Roth could feel the wheel breaking free of his hold. "It's too late, son! Hold onto something!"

Sam, Jonah, and Alex latched onto whatever they could to keep them from falling over- walls, crates, poles... rain battered on them and lightning struck continuously in all directions.

"The ship is going to fall apart!" Sam shouted, squinting through the heavy rain as she shielded her face with her arm. A crash of thunder roared and she cupped her hands over her ears.

The girl could hear screams and shouting from all directions- of Roth, Jonah... her crewmembers, as people were falling overboard and running up and down along the decks trying to avoid sliding cargo.

"Hold on!" Called Jonah. The winds were nearly knocking them over as ocean water poured over the rails of the ship, the deck soon turning into a shallow pool of water.

"It's no use. Get to the lifeboat!" Jonah ordered. He figured it was better luck than wasting time on trying to steer, which was clearly impossible for them now. They did as they were told, pushing through the rain and winds of the mighty storm and running towards the last lifeboat on the side of the ship.

Sam peered over the edge as she gripped onto the railing and leaned over. She looked into the dark water, waves crashing, her breath heavy. The sound of her friends voices caused her to snap her focus back up and turn around quickly.

"You guys go. I need to find Lara." Roth insisted for he was not going to leave without her. She was the daughter he never had, and had promised her father he would look after her no matter what.

"Roth!" Sam called, but he was already gone. _Oh god, Lara. _She thought. She hoped she was okay. There was a sudden firm grip on her arm and she looked over to see Alex next to her.

"Sam, there's no time, we have to go!"

He was right. She didn't argue, and turned to help Jonah with the lifeboat, she saw him hauling survival packs and life jackets into it so she begun to help Alex in gripping the ropes and pulling with all her strength. The ship rocked viciously and Sam pushed her feet into the deck as hard as she could, trying to prevent herself from sliding or falling for she had always been very light.

A sudden wave bursted over the rail and onto the decks. The weight of the water rocked the ship as it quickly pooled to the rear, knocking Jonah onto his back. He tucked his chin into his neck, using himself as a shield from the water pouring over him, for he could take that force more than anyone. Alex gave a vigorous yell before grappling onto a nearby cargo crate that was fastened in the ground, the water pushing against him as Sam was thrusted back and shoved into the back wall. Grunting and screaming, the ship soon rocked again in the other direction, causing her to tumble over.

"Sam!" She heard Alex's familiar voice but her vision was clear of him or Jonah. She attempted to return back to her feet, she needed to get up. Her knees wobbled as she used the rail to push herself up before she was knocked into the side of it and crippled onto the ground.

"Hold on, Sammy!" It was Jonah.

Before she could even move, there was another violent rock in the ship, taking away all of her control in which direction she was going, tumbling and soon falling onto a weak boarded up patch in the ground. She screamed, hearing the snapping and cracking of the wood that she fell on, before a sudden jolt of pain struck throughout her entire body.

Gasping as her chest rapidly rose and fell, the girl lay there with her eyes closed. It was quieter, nearly nothing now but the piercing sound of the alarm. She moaned, struggling to open her eyes for she had already begun to feel some bruises on her body. She looked up, focusing on the hole in the ceiling where she had fallen through. Sam coughed and rolled over, pushing herself up with her arms.

_Fuck._

She was now on the lower decks, separated from Jonah and Alex. She _had _to get out of here before the water flooded in.

Sam stood up quickly, a little _too _quickly for her vision became slightly blurry and she had to lean on the wall to compose herself.

She looked ahead. An empty corridor, red lights flashing on and off in sync with the alarm. Her breath quickened, and she immediately started running.

"Jonah!" She called and heard no reply, stumbling and tripping over her own feet, but was determined to get back up to the surface as soon as she could.

"Alex? Anybody!" Turning corner after corner, she was beginning to think this hallway would never end. During their days on the Endurance, Sam didn't spend much time on this end of the ship. Now she wished she had.

The alarm ringed in her ears as she eased to a stop, her breath heaving. She noticed the water was starting to fill up at her feet. The hallway was an intersection: left, right, and forward. She just had to choose the right one. Her hand rested on the wall, it felt ice cold and wet. She looked around her, there was water spraying through tiny holes in the walls and dripping from the ceiling. They could burst at any moment. She couldn't give up now.

Sam peered down the hallway ahead of her, she caught sight of a crevice in the wall that could be a set of stairs. She squinted, spotting a black railing.

"Thank god." She muttered under her breath.

Sam bolted for it for her mind was set on those stairs and those stairs only. She took the first step before a gust a water erupted at her feet. She shrieked, slipping and almost falling from the force of the wave before she gripped the railings with both her hands. She gazed down the hall to her left where the water had come from, it was pooling in quickly, giving her no reason to stand there foolishly.

At the top of the stairs and finally on deck again, she searched with her eyes from where she was standing for any sign of Jonah or Alex, or anybody for that matter. It didn't seem like there was anybody still on the ship, at least not this side of it. She shielded her eyes with her arms and started walking forward, pushing against the wind.

The ship rocked under her feet, slightly throwing her stance side to side but she fought against it. Sam looked up and through the heavy rain. She needed some sense of direction, before a set of cargo crates broke free from their ropes that tied them down, the clasps snapping off as the crates slid down the deck right toward Sam.

Before she even saw them coming, the crates shoved her into the wall behind her and she felt a sudden pain in the back of her head, before everything went black.

* * *

I am no expert on ships, so I apologize if I got something wrong. Let me know if you would like more!


	2. Mathias

A/N: Please note that at some points, the parts that already happened in the game will be skipped, just so there isn't any confusion! :)

* * *

Sam gasped for air, her chest rising greatly as she slightly rolled over onto her side, trying to catch her breath.

"That's it. There you go."

She heard a voice near her, a man's voice. He had been on the beach with her and given a few pumps to the chest before she woke back into consciousness.

A full and unwelcome feeling welled up in her throat and kept her from looking to see who was there. She began to cough, water spluttering out of her mouth. Sam caught her breath, lightly moaning, her eyes still closed.

The sun shone on the sand, making it hot on her back as she lay there, the sound of seagulls and steady waves surrounding her. She could feel the water crawling over her feet and legs, making her shiver.

She remembered that somebody was there, and shot open her eyes to see an unfamiliar face next to her. He was an older man, bald and clothed in a large dirty looking jacket. But she cared more of what was happening in the moment rather than who the man was.

"Wh-where am I?" Sam managed to mumble, slightly raising her head to look around, squinting from the brightness. It was clearly around midday at this time. She saw cliffs, mountains, and sand everywhere.

A sudden pain caught her off guard, feeling like a massive headache had just struck her out of nowhere and her hand immediately moved to the back of her head. She groaned breathfully.

"You, uh, must've hit your head pretty hard."

His voice was rusty, and not very comforting in her opinion. But she didn't let it get to her for there was probably more important things to worry about.

Sam exhaled, then her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered everything that had happened- the ship, Jonah, Alex... they were all there.

"Oh god." She noticed a hint of fear in her own voice, but she didn't really care at the moment.

Images from last night were flashing into her mind now. She couldn't seem to manage spitting out any useful words for she was starting to get insanely worried, unsatisfying scenarios welling up in her thoughts. Sam was usually less self controlled than Lara, in terms of remaining calm during a situation. She hated that about herself, and loved that about Lara.

She noticed the man wasn't saying much.

"Y-you saved me." The tone in her voice almost made it sound like a question.

"I saw the wreck." He said. "I assumed there had to be someone on this beach."

Sam closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, relieved that she was alive and safe now.

"Yeah," The man adjusted himself on the sand. It seemed to her he was taking the situation rather oddly. Sam just lay there not speaking and listened intently for what he was about to say. She felt like she had no energy to get up, or any need to for that matter.

"It's always a shock when you first wake up, realize you're on some strange island and next thing you know you're watching other people do the same thing." He continued.

Sam had no idea what he meant by that. She gazed at him with a confused expression, her eyebrows knitted together. He was sitting with his knees up and an arm around them, just gazing out into the ocean.

She remained quiet and began to sit up, her face tensing slightly as she let out a hissing sound of pain for she could feel various muscles in her body were insanely sore from being tossed all over the ship last night.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked. She felt as if her brain was completely dead right now and incapable of any thinking or processing.

He turned to look at her with a friendly expression, but didn't respond. There was only a slight smile on his face, before he began to rise to his feet.

"Well, we can't just sit here, now can we." It wasn't a question.

Sam looked up at him from the ground, her eyebrows slightly creased for she wondered why he avoided her question.

"I have a camp not to far from here."

They looked at each other and Sam took that as an invitation.

He soon held out a hand for her and she gladly took it. She felt his arms around her, helping her on her feet. Her knees still bent, she felt like she couldn't even straighten them if she tried. She was so tired, so weak.

Taking a step, an unexpected and jolting pain rose in her foot, feeling like a shock of electricity just travelled up throughout her entire leg. Sam let out a yell of pain and crippled to the ground when she felt him taking hold of her again. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"It's my ankle." She told him.

"Here, take this." He knelt down with an arm still around her back and handed her his wooden crutch that had been lying on the sand where he was sitting earlier. She didn't even notice he had it.

"Don't you need it?" She figured, if he had it with him in the first place.

"Nah," That noticeable rust in his voice again. "You need it more than I do."

Sam didn't argue, and gladly took the crutch, holding it under her left arm and leaning most of her weight onto it. She could sense his arms hovering around her for support as they started walking.

Not much was said between the two, and Sam didn't much mind either. In fact, she preferred it.

As they walked, Sam looked back and over her shoulder. A distance away lay the Endurance, a complete wreck. It was broken in half on a rocky landscape with large disassembled ship parts swarming all around it. It was horrible for her to look at, everything that she had done since they started this expedition happened on that boat. All that filming she had done on there, all those nights staying up late with Lara and then having to be told by Roth to keep it down for the crewmembers were trying to sleep. It was almost heartbreaking for her to see the ship now.

She gazed at it with a hurt and sad expression, but turned back around quickly and focused on the path in front of her, her head down low.

After seeing the ship, broken as it was, she couldn't help but think of Lara.

God, I hope she's okay.

OoOoO

The fire crackled sharply as glowing sparks rose up into the clear sky and through the emitted grey smoke. It was starting to get dark, and Sam was thankful she wasn't alone on this night. The two of them had settled by sunset, and she had to admit she was quite comfortable there, taking note of the wooden table and bench that was already there.

She sat on an old crate in front of the fire for her ankle prevented her from standing as the man poked at the flames with a stick, shifting the logs and adding more wood.

"I never got a chance to introduce myself." He said, standing up and walking over to the table. "I'm Mathias." He looked back at her with a faint smile.

She exhaled, the corners of her mouth barely lifting into a grin. "Sam." She was a whole lot more relieved now that they at least knew each others names.

He approached her, holding something in his hands and she noticed it had been a scrap of bandages. She took the hint when he bent down in front of her and lifted her foot to make it easier.

"So, your ship... quite the beauty." Mathias kept his gaze focused on her ankle. "A nice trip this turned out to be, huh?" He said sarcastically.

Sam couldn't help but give a slight breath of laughter. "It was more like an expedition. I wouldn't exactly call that a trip." She waited for a response but didn't get any, feeling like he was waiting for her to say more. "We were searching for Yamatai." She finished.

He chuckled and she wondered why, but didn't ask. "Yamatai, eh?" It was obvious she was completely oblivious to where she was. "I've heard that before."

Again, she didn't know what he meant by that, but shook it off as a few more silent moments passed between them.

"Are you alone?" She asked.

Sam studied his expression as he inhaled, preparing to speak.

"I'm just like any other." That didn't really answer her question, but made Sam feel like there was something she was expected to know about 'others'.

"I've been on this bloody island for years."

"How many?" Sam asked, amazement in her voice. She couldn't possibly imagine living on an island like this for so long. The distressed tone in his voice made her feel like she shouldn't be asking, but was still curious.

"Ehh, I've lost count." Mathias continued to wrap the cloth around her ankle.

After a few moments, he pushed himself up off his knee and used his crutch to help him as well, gesturing to Sam that he was finished.

She watched him get up, almost feeling a little sorry for him. "Thank you." She slightly bent down and rested a hand on her leg to inspect it, quite impressed with his work.

"You seem like you know how to patch up a wound." She commented, trying to keep conversation.

"It shouldn't be anything more than a sprain." Mathias slowly made his way over to the other side of the fire and took a seat in the gravel.

Sam could admit she was glad to hear that.

She looked up, realizing the sky was almost pitch black now. Her brows furrowed as she began to think and rested her hands at her side, already feeling a little homesick. She missed her friends, especially Lara. She tried to take her mind off of it, deciding that getting through the night was her primary goal for now.

OoOoO

Sam shot open her eyes as she felt a hand cup over her mouth, awakening her from her sleep. It pressed down so hard she could hardly breathe, causing her to panic. Before she could even think Sam felt herself being aggressively pushed up onto her feet, instinctively trying to break free of the harsh grasp. She tried screaming but was almost inaudible. The girl attempted to grab the hand over her mouth but felt a tightened grip around her wrists and soon her arms were behind her back.

The person was clearly stronger than her, making her feel small and vulnerable, but didn't dare to give up.

It was so dark the girl could barely see what was happening when another figure appeared in front of her. She continued to struggle, panicking even more now that she knew there was more than one of them. She let out another muffled shout, which didn't seem to help her. Sam could feel her heart pounding like it was about to pop out of her chest.

The figure attempted to grab her and she kneed him in the stomach. He crippled but regained himself quickly for as much as she could see of him in the shadows, his silhouette looked pretty burly and was much larger than Sam.

The man behind her raised his arm, and quickly gave a solid blow in the back of her head, immediately knocking her unconscious.

Now she really was vulnerable.


	3. The Roundup

"Has she woken up yet?"

"Nah," Sam heard a man's voice. It was faint and distant, but yet, awfully close. "She's been out all day."

She didn't open her eyes for she felt like she didn't have the strength to. Her head hurt like crazy, and every muscle in her body felt numb as if she were completely paralyzed. Whatever she was lying on, felt especially uncomfortable and hard on her shoulder blades.

"What's Mathias gonna do with this one?" The voice was deep and rusty, making her a little frightened by the tone of it.

As her consciousness slowly regained, the voices were beginning to sound clearer, and she soon realized they were right outside the room.

"He said he was gonna put her in the roundup."

_Roundup?_

"Yeah," He paused. "Let's hope he chooses the right one this time." The man sighed loudly. "I'm sick of this goddamn island."

"I don't know, brother. She looks questionable to me."

Sam stirred and couldn't help but let out a slight moan as every muscle in her body suddenly felt warm when she moved them. She managed to flicker open her eyes and was unexpectedly blinded by the bright light on the ceiling above her.

She felt the blood rushing down her body as she sat upright. Sam barely had any time to look around and see where she was, before she was rather aggressively gripped by the upper arm by a man who she didn't know had been in the room with her.

It was hard for her to process what was happening as she was forcefully pulled up off the cot she was laying on, but judging by how fast the man had been to act, she figured he had been waiting for her to wake up. She almost fell onto the ground and she felt like her head was spinning in circles. The man tugged on her arm and her body straightened up.

Her vision had gone black for a few seconds from being risen to her feet so fast, but was soon brought to the realization that she was in a tiny room, with nothing more than a small table to the right and a few pots. The walls were a dark red colored wood, and trimmed with gold from the center and down. It looked rather fancy to her, but Sam hadn't had much time to gaze about the room, for she soon found herself being pulled out the door.

Unexpectedly, she was face to face with the two men that she had heard talking soon before. They turned to look at her and the girl couldn't think of anything to say, still feeling insanely dizzy. But the evil glare on their faces made her think it was a good idea to not speak.

The man that had been gripping her by the arm gave her a shove toward the other two. "Take her to the Throne Room."

The men didn't hesitate to follow his orders, immediately grabbing her wrists and pinning them behind her back. "Hey!" Sam shouted at them, struggling from their grasp. They didn't say anything and instead continued to push her around like some kind of rag doll. She stumbled before pressing her feet into the ground as the man behind her bound her wrists. She could feel it tightening and Sam jerked her shoulders, struggling. "Let go of me!"

It was as if they didn't hear her.

They each clutched onto one of her arms as they began walking her down the corridor. They had been moving pretty fast, making Sam stumble as she tried to keep up. She grunted, jolting herself in all directions but the two men didn't even seem to budge, making her feel very small.

Her breath heavy, she took a chance to look around. The hallway she was being walked through was dark, lit up with a few candle lights on the walls, which looked awfully similar to the ones in the room she had just been in. It looked almost identical, just in different form. She was pulled past a bunch of rooms, but most of the doors were closed. She wondered what was in them.

She looked ahead of her and saw she was being pulled toward wide open double doors. Her heart rate started to speed up as she began to regret wondering about the rooms.

Before she knew it, Sam was being dragged into a large area with dark wooden floors and wide pillars that formed a square in the center of the room. She noticed many figures, but couldn't find the time to examine them before she felt herself being pushed down on the ground. She shrieked, and soon found herself on her knees with her face almost touching the wooden floors. The binding of her wrists behind her back made it difficult for her to regain herself from the harsh fall, but soon managed to lift her upper body.

Her breath was heaving, and she didn't want to look up. She sensed the presence of so many people around her, terrified to lay her eyes on them. Sam finally glared from underneath her eyelashes. She saw the feet of two guards standing in front of her a short distance away. There was another next to her. They wore large heavy boots with untied laces, and raggedy pants crawling around the rim of them.

"Ah, Samantha. So glad you could join us."

She felt her heart drop into her stomach at the sudden voice, especially knowing that the voice was talking directly to her. She recognized it.

"It's about time you woke up." His voice continued.

She tilted her head ever so slightly, curious to know who and what was around her. Her eyes trailed up and saw Mathias standing a short distance away and to the right. He wore a large dark robe with a hood, different from the one he had worn before, and a mighty staff in his right hand. He looked _dark_ to her.

She couldn't think of any words to say, completely stunned by his brand new identity. She felt so stupid for letting herself get close to this man.

They made eye contact and an evil smirk lay on his face. She barely gasped as her vision caught sight of more figures to her right and she turned her head to see three other people on their knees next to her, forming a line. They were all girls. What on earth were they doing with them? They looked as frightened as she was, none of them making eye contact with her which Sam thought was probably best.

Sam was about to speak up, before Mathias began talking again. "Now that you're all here," He talked slowly, his voice startling Sam again as she snapped her vision back to the ground in front of her. "I have something very special planned for you all." Something told her he didn't mean that in a good way.

"I've waited so long for this." She had no idea what this man had in mind, but was absolutely terrified to find out, not knowing if she even wanted to. "I have done a lot to bring you all here."

Sam could hear the breath of the girl beside her.

She _had _to get out of here.

The sound of Mathias' voice lingered in her ears, it's audibility fading away by the second for she was more focused on figuring a way out. She looked under her lashes again, trying her best not to show any head movement as she observed the room around her once more. There was a door on her left. It had been nearly hidden in the shadows for she didn't notice it before. Her eyes widened at the sight of it.

She saw the legs of Mathias as he slowly stepped up and down the line of girls as he spoke, stopping at Sam which made her freeze like a rock, before he continued walking in the other direction.

She exhaled quietly, her mind focused on the door. If she could run fast enough she could make it past the guards and exit through the door before they could grab her.

"On this day..." Mathias announced, the sound of his heavy footsteps echoing in Sam's ears. "..._one _of you will be chosen." He stopped in the middle of the line of girls, resting his hand on the head of his staff. He made tense eye contact with Sam. "As for the rest, well, let's just say you'll be put in others' hands." There was so much evil in his voice.

This man was crazy, she thought. Trying to maintain a steady breathing rate, Sam soon enough rushed herself onto her feet. Her body was still crouched as she bolted for the door. She could hear herself panting, beginning to panic even more for every step that she took. She didn't make it very far before there was a sudden blow to her cheek, and she heard a loud thump as she was knocked to the ground. She had no way of supporting herself from the fall for her wrists were still secured behind her back. Sam yelled in pain, her chin on the hard floor now as she slowly rolled over. She shut her eyes closed, her face throbbing.

Barely having a chance to open her eyes again, the guard that had hit her jammed his foot into her stomach. Her entire body jerked on the floor as she coughed loudly, struggling for air.

"That's enough." Mathias' voice was beyond calm. She heard his footsteps coming toward her, the ground vibrating against her crippled body.

When he approached Sam, he strenuously snatched the back of her hair and pulled her upward so she was face to face with him. She yelled painfully.

Mathias glared into her eyes and she found herself holding her breath, the pain keeping her from releasing it. His face was so close to hers she could feel his breath.

"This one's a tough one, isn't she?"

Sam's face tightened, an angry glare in her eyes. She could hear Mathias' men chuckling all around her at his comment.

"You amuse me, girl." He continued. "You think you can run away from me?"

Sam couldn't bare any words and continued to stare at those evil eyes.

"_No one escapes_." He emphasized every syllable, hissing viciously in her ears as she longed for him to release her hair.

It felt like forever until he finally withdrew his hold and pushed her down onto the ground, a wide sensation of relief flowing over Sam as she released the breath she forgot she was holding. She propped herself up with her hands, her legs splayed out on the floor behind her.

Her vision forced on the ground, she saw dark red drops of blood that she realized had dripped from her throbbing face. She lifted a hand up to her nose, her palm barely touching her skin when she felt a sudden tenderness and soon found her fingers covered in blood.

"Pray she spares your life." Sam looked up at him with knitted eyebrows, wondering who he was talking about. "To the caverns."

It wasn't long before she was being pulled to her feet again as the guards began to drag her out of the room. The toes of her boots trailed on the floor and her head hung low. She closed her eyes softly, allowing them to take her wherever they planned to next.


End file.
